As small businesses continue to struggle with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, WEDC is providing an additional $50 million in grants through a second phase of the We’re All In Small Business Grant Program.

The first phase of the program provided more than $65 million in grants to over 26,000 businesses statewide this summer. The new round aims to provide grants of $5,000 each to 10,000 Wisconsin small businesses.

“Wisconsin’s small businesses have demonstrated unbelievable creativity and ingenuity in adapting to the pandemic,” said WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes. “But what we’re hearing from many of them is that they’re already stretched to the limit and are concerned what the next few months will hold.”

Businesses that received funds under the first round of We’re All In Grants, as well as the Ethnic Minority Emergency Grant program, are also eligible for the second round of We’re All In Grants. Priority will be given to businesses that have not previously received funds from either of the first two programs, those with ethnically diverse ownership, and those in the hardest-hit sectors, such as restaurants and taverns, hair and nail salons and barber shops, and other services.

To be eligible for the second round of We’re All In Grants, an applicant must:

  • be a Wisconsin-based, for-profit business;
  • in 2019, have 75% or more of company labor costs in Wisconsin and 75% of their assets in Wisconsin;
  • earn more than $0 and less than $1 million in annual revenues (gross sales and receipts); and
  • have started operating prior to Jan. 1, 2020, (Seasonal businesses should use the highest total FTEs employed during the season.)
  • have filed their 2019 taxes.

For this round, We’re All In Grants will be administered by the Department of Revenue in partnership with WEDC. As with the first round of grants, funding for the grants will come from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

The second round of We’re All In Grants is the latest effort by WEDC to assist small businesses in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. WEDC distributed more than $65 million in CARES Act funding to nearly 26,000 businesses under the first round of We’re All In Grants this summer. Additionally, WEDC provided $2 million in state funds to diverse businesses under the Ethnic Minority Emergency Grant initiative and $5 million to microbusinesses through the Small Business 20/20 Program.